ATLANTA — Luis Arraez went after a first-pitch slider, and popped it straight up.
Braves third baseman Austin Riley settled underneath it, making the catch for the second out of the eighth in yet another wasted opportunity for the Phillies. They were on the verge of stranding yet another pair of runners in scoring position on Sunday.
The Phillies had already squandered leadoff doubles from J.T. Realmuto in the fifth and Bryce Harper in the sixth. Now it looked like Kyle Schwarber’s single and Harper’s second double of the day were also going to be for naught.
But Alec Bohm changed the Phillies’ fortunes, and the tide of the game, with one swing. He smacked a fastball left over the middle of the plate to the center field wall, clearing the bases and putting the Phillies back in front. From there, the floodgates opened, and the offense strung together six two-out hits and a walk on the way to a 9-4 victory over Atlanta.
The eighth-inning outburst was a catharsis for a Phillies offense stuck in neutral for the first two losses of the series.
J.T. Realmuto had a three-hit day, delivering the Phillies’ early 2-1 lead with a two-run homer off Braves starter Grant Holmes in the second inning.
Another first-inning run had scored on Andrew Painter, this time on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly. The right-hander has a 9.00 ERA in the first inning this season.
That proved to be the only run he allowed over five innings and 87 pitches, although many of those pitches were in high-pressure situations. Painter allowed a lot of traffic, scattering six hits and issuing four walks, but he managed to get outs when needed.
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Arraez made a few diving stops at second base, once to help out Painter in the fourth and again to propel Alex McFarlane to a clean sixth.
The Phillies’ bullpen faltered yet again in the seventh when José Alvarado coughed up the one-run lead. A bloop single from Michael Harris II to lead off the inning turned into the tying run after a wild pitch and another single.
Tanner Banks pitched the final two innings for his first major league action since July 8. He gave up an infield single followed by a homer to Matt Olson, as the Braves started to put together a rally of their own. But a foul pop out ended the game, and the Phillies salvaged the final game of the series.
The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it’s the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Luke Murton | Mike Hazen | Tony Gwynn Jr. | Kevin Stocker | Bobby Dickerson | Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico
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